Netball: Good times well overdue

By JULIE ASH

Anna Rowberry's netball career has been a bit of a rollercoaster ride to date, and a pretty fast one at that.

But with the world championships just round the corner, you won't hear the words "Stop, I want to get off" from the Silver Ferns captain.

She is more likely to be screaming "Faster, faster" when the team line up in Jamaica.

With two world championships already under her belt, 27-year-old Rowberry knows her team are in for the ride of their lives come July.

"The next few months are going to be crucial," she says. "We have to make sure that when we get over there we are at our best, physically and mentally."



Rowberry was with the Silver Ferns when they finished third in the 1995 championships behind Australia and South Africa, and was part of the team who lost to Australia by one goal in the 1999 final.

As a newcomer in 1995 she had little court time, but in 1999 she was in the thick of that "devastating" 41-42 loss in Christchurch.

"To win the world championships was such a goal for us that year [1999] and then to have it finish and not to have won was really soul-destroying.

"When I look back now it is not as painful, but it is something I will never forget. You are always going to remember the emotions you felt at the time."

Since that loss, netball fans have become accustomed to seeing the Silver Ferns lose to Australia in the dying minutes.

"We have talked about it and have been working on scenarios during the national league," Rowberry says.

"It is just staying focused on what your job is on the court at that time, rather than being too outcome-focused."

But Rowberry is quick to point out that Australia are not New Zealand's only worry at the world championships. Jamaica beat Australia this year, and then England beat Jamaica on Tuesday.

"To win a world champs, performance-wise you have to play consistent netball.

"It is about staying on task and not getting too involved in the whole world championship campaign.

"At the end of the day you are there to play four quarters of the best netball you can in each game. If you lose sight of that, that is when you have hiccups."

Following in the footsteps of her national rep mother Brenda, Rowberry first made the Silver Ferns in 1994.

After 55 games for New Zealand she was dropped in 2000, copping plenty of criticism for playing too fast and throwing away too much possession.

It wasn't until midway through last year that she was recalled, for the Commonwealth Games.

"There is only a short span of your life where you play elite sport and I thought, I am not going to give up just because I am not in the national team," she says.

"I still felt young enough and my body felt good enough to keep on playing. It was a natural thing to keep going, not quit.

"I knew I could get back in and that you hadn't seen the best of me as a netballer."

A year later, now leading New Zealand into the world championships, Rowberry must be tempted to pinch herself to check she is not dreaming.

"You never know how things pan out. I learned from my experiences of being in and out that you can't take things for granted and you really have to go out there and perform well to secure a spot in the team."

Speaking of dreams, Rowberry has one in particular she would desperately like to come true.

"I would love for us to have a great win against Jamaica in the semis and then I don't care how much we beat Australia by in the final.

"It would be fantastic to win and feel that real jubilation after a game - something I have felt very little in my netball career.

"I remember the feeling when I was with the Otago Rebels and we won the national league in 1998.

"Just that feeling after the game, knowing you had done it. It is just so exciting and to have that feeling in Jamaica would be the ultimate."

Inside Track

* Name: Anna Rowberry

* Age: 27

* Place of birth: Christchurch

* Lives: Auckland

* Occupation: Teacher

* Height: 1.76m

* Position: C, WA

Test caps: 69

* Player history

1994/2000, 2002/3: Silver Ferns

2001/03: Auckland Diamonds

1998/99: Otago Rebels.